


tales of the greenhouse

by tokyeons (stylsh)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Cats, Elves, Fae & Fairies, M/M, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:35:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28990806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stylsh/pseuds/tokyeons
Summary: Being the town's apothecary, Luhan was expected to keep up the garden. With orders flowing in every day, he had been agonizing over the very messy notes Minseok had left him. But try as he might, the plants were slowly but surely dying, and it was only May.One of his regulars, Baekhyun, with his beautiful elven mind, had remembered that Luhan's neighbour is a garden fae. Luhan was desperate at this point, so talking to his gorgeous and very intimidating neighbour was something he was just going to have to do.
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Lu Han
Kudos: 12
Collections: EXO Bakery - 2021





	tales of the greenhouse

**Author's Note:**

> big thank you to the mods and my beta for this ; v ; i had a lot of fun writing this. always here for more luchen in this dreary world HJDKS

Luhan is  _ this _ close to losing it.

He's losing the plot. He really is.

Though his house is out of the way of normal civilization, Luhan never really considered himself to be a hermit or anything. He and Minseok went into town, talked to people. They have friends outside of each other. That being said, the two of them were quite awkward. Most days, they didn't even talk, the only form of social interaction being grunting at each other to feed the cats.

When Minseok leaves to live in the Frost Kingdom with his boyfriend, Luhan is more than pissed. They had such a good routine, and he wants to throw it away for some  _ boy _ ? That bastard. And it was  _ Junmyeon _ , of all people.

Luhan could barely keep the animals alive. How the hell was he supposed to keep the garden up and running too?

Being the town's apothecary, Luhan was expected to keep up the garden. With orders flowing in every day, he had been agonizing over the very messy notes Minseok had left him. But try as he might, the plants were slowly but surely dying, and it was only May.

One of his regulars, Baekhyun, with his beautiful elven mind, had remembered that Luhan's neighbour is a garden fae. Luhan was desperate at this point, so talking to his gorgeous and very intimidating neighbour was something he was just going to have to do. He had stumbled over his words, but thankfully, the lovely neighbour, now known as Jongdae, had agreed to help Luhan with his garden. 

So now, Luhan was frantically trying to clean his house when Jongdae arrived in an hour.

The cats had been staring at him all morning as he raced around, stuffing things in rooms where he couldn't remember their place. Minseok was the tidy one, and Luhan was the messy stressor. Luhan really felt like they're going through some sort of divorce.

Jongdae arrived, thankfully a little late, and Luhan opened the door to make it seem like he wasn’t butt naked right beforehand. Jongdae's smile is catlike and mischievous, and maybe that's why Luhan finds him so attractive.

Which is kind of weird to say. So Luhan doesn’t.

They had tea and chatted a little. Luhan was practically dying trying to make small talk. Still, Jongdae seemed to take over the conversations masterfully, and the cats have taken a liking to him. So when Jongdae was finally ready to look at Luhan's garden, it came as no surprise that he laughed in his face.

"H-Hey! I worked hard at this!"

Jongdae toppled over in laughter, alarming the griffin with his howling laughter. Luhan's face drooped, as does his shoulders, and he looked at Jongdae like a kicked puppy. Jongdae's hand fell on Luhan's shoulder, and he kept laughing. "Okay, okay- I get it! You could mistake my garden for a graveyard."

"Couldn't have said it better." Jongdae wiped the tears from his eyes and slapped Luhan's shoulder. For a supposedly delicate fae, he packed a punch. "Alright! Do you know what plants you have here?"

"Vaguely."

Luhan had shown Jongdae the little signs Minseok meticulously made that have been blown away or buried because of Luhan's clumsiness. Jongdae identified that Luhan had absolutely no memory of ever planting, and the ones Luhan named incorrectly. Luhan made mental notes about their names, the watering and the soil schedule. Jongdae had pulled out a piece of paper himself, writing everything down for Luhan.

Jongdae took some time to look around the garden by himself, noting everything Luhan had, as Luhan waited near the patio door with one of his cats in his arms. He's about to go inside, feeling like an idiot standing there doing nothing, but Jongdae finished by the time he actually got the courage to do something.

"Your garden isn't that bad, Luhan. You just gotta spend more time with it."

The mage pursed his lips and scratched behind his cat's ears. He honestly expected the worst. He even prepared some gold to go buy new seeds.

“Is it salvageable?”

“Certainly,” Jongdae grinned, the curls of his lips more prominent than ever. Luhan mentally slapped himself from staring too long as Jongdae spoke again. “It may take some time, but I’m sure we can get them back. Most of it will be with help from the rain. Good thing we live in Gloomsville.”

Luhan laughed, looking away from Jongdae, suddenly feeling awkward.

“So... Are you gonna come by again?” Luhan finally met Jongdae’s eyes, breaking the silence as Jongdae looked off into the distance. The other man hummed, hands stuffed in his pockets. Underneath the spring sun, his green skin seemed to shimmer. “If you make me more of those cookies.”

“You liked them?”

Jongdae rolled his eyes and looked Luhan in the eyes. The man seemed very comfortable and friendly with Luhan, even though they’ve only properly met today. “They’re delicious. Whenever your boyfriend came around and brought some, I always wanted more. He hasn’t been by lately.”

Luhan scrunched his nose. “Minseok? He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Did you guys break up? Is that why he’s not here anymore?”

Luhan shook his head once again. 

“No— No! We were just flatmates. He ditched me for some blondie.” Luhan scoffed, disgusted by the mere  _ idea _ of the two of them dating. Jongdae’s mischievous answering grin had Luhan perplexed. 

“Hm, that sounds good for me, then.”

“What?”

Jongdae chuckled before zipping past Luhan and heading to the door. “I’ll be by tomorrow, Luhan. Make some fresh cookies for me, kay?”

Bewildered, Luhan looked around at his flat before nodding stupidly. Jongdae winked and shut Luhan’s door, the quiet left behind interrupted by his cat’s incessant meowing for attention.

Perhaps Luhan wouldn’t be so lonely after all.


End file.
